This invention relates generally to an infant swing, and in particular, to an infant swing that may be used to entertain and/or pacify an infant located in the swing.
Conventional infant swings may be used to pacify and relax infants. Sometimes parents or care givers place an upset infant in a swing to calm the infant. Often the infant is soothed by the continuous oscillation of the swing. Conventional swings oscillate until turned off by the parent or care giver.
Sometimes parents or care givers place an infant in a swing in order to entertain the infant. Many conventional swings lack entertainment devices and as a result, the infants become bored quickly.
Some conventional infant swings are open top swings that, as a result of their open structure, facilitate the placement of an infant in and the removal of an infant from the swing. Some conventional swings include mechanisms that retain the seat back of a seat in several reclined positions. Many of these mechanisms are difficult to adjust, particularly when an infant is located in the seat.
A need exists for an infant swing that is automatically controlled based on sounds detected from the infant, and thus does not continuously oscillate unnecessarily. A need exists for an infant swing that provides an entertainment device that will entertain an infant located in the swing. A need exists for an infant swing that includes a seat back recline mechanism that may be easily adjusted to change the inclination of the seat.
Generally, the embodiments of the invention disclose an infant swing that may be used to pacify and/or entertain an infant. In one embodiment, the infant swing includes a sound detection circuit that may be used to detect sounds generated by an infant in the swing and to control the drive mechanism of the infant swing based on the detected sounds. In another embodiment, the infant swing includes an entertainment device that may be used with the infant swing to entertain an infant in the swing. In another embodiment, the infant swing includes an adjustment mechanism that may be used to adjust the angle of inclination of the seat. In another embodiment, the infant swing includes a control unit that utilizes pulse width modulation to control the drive mechanism imparting motion to the seat of the swing.